With just 73 days left in Daniel’s 90 Day Challenge he realizes that his network equals his net worth. There is no way he is going to build a business if all he does is talk about his great ideas to a few of his friends and spends the rest of his time researching the best umpty ump software, hardware, service and latest greatest whatever…. At some point you can’t talk about it, you got to BE ABOUT IT!

So Daniel and Howard finally build up their nerve and go on the road. Their first adventure is that they attend a surprise party for a friend-social business professional from NFTE. At the party they’ll get the opportunity to meet some professionals and folks from the business community. Daniel is a social butterfly and a natural at networking and meeting people- believe me this is not the norm. So at the end of today’s post I am going to reiterate some of Daniel’s Tips for Networking as well as include a few of my own.
 

1. It’s NOT WORKING….It’s Networking: It’s natural to be nervous. Don’t think about networking like ‘work’ or cold-calling.  Think about it like meeting a new friend. You learn a little about them and they learn a little about you. Here’s a good conversation starter for newbies: if it is a networking event or workshop or something to that effect walk up to the person and say hello my name is —blankety blank— and ask them What Brought You Here Today? In Daniel’s case he was at a surprise party. So he could ask so how do you know such and such?

Want to improve your public speaking and one on one speaking skills, then be sure to check out www.toastmasters.org (they are international) and the membership prices are ridiculously inexpensive (in many cases $5/mo or less). You can go to a local place (day or evening) and meet for an hour where you learn the basics of public speaking and such.

2. What do you do? I hate that question but so many people ask it. But just know that they don’t literally mean this ok….so make it short and snappy In giving your elevator pitch, instead of explaining what you do tell them- your company name or the company you work for (optional), what problem you solve and for what group of people. Example, my name is Shonika (I seldom say my last name). I am teen entrepreneur coach and I help emerging ceo’s ages 18 and younger manifest raw talent to fulfill their uninhibited dreams.  That’s 15 seconds and call it a day. If they ask questions, give them short concise answers. And if they are really really interested exchange business cards and schedule a meeting or tell them to get on your update list….I hope you have one (if not, see tip 3) Need more help crafting your elevator pitch? Then check out this helpful article written by yours truly:

Ding Are You Going Up With Your Elevator Pitch? http://tinyurl.com/6m37g8

3. The Fortune is in the Follow-Up: Daniel said it a few times, however, I simply cannot emphasize this enough. You can have the best leads in the world but if you never call people back YOU HAVE NOTHING, not to mention your credibility goes out the window. Your words and action must agree. So if you tell someone you call them back then do it. And do it more than once if you don’t reach them the first time (but don’t be a pain in the ass) you know what I mean. Don’t call begging for business. Call and say it was nice meeting you and how CAN I HELP YOU? Yes, empower them. The relationship will move forward a lto easier if you put them on the offensive. Have a way that you can stay in contact monthly or something to that effect esp if there is truly the possibility of doing business together in the near future. People hand out their business cards because they feel that they have made some connection with you…but they also realize that the vast majority of people will never contact them again. So have a regular ’Keep In Touch’ strategy in place. Have an email sign up list. We use icontact, which is a multi-million dollar permission based email list management company owned by early 20 somethng ceo Ryan Allis. http://tinyurl.com/6jlopf

4. Have an attitude of gratitude. Did you meet someone memorable? Someone trigger a good idea? Did someone give you some important and sincere advice or a good lead? Then write a thank you card. Few people do that anymore, but it sincerely shows the respect and appreciation you have for other people’s time. In Daniel’s video— I see at least 4-6 thank you cards that need to go out- the host of the event, the guys playing pool who were sharing their experiences in China (where Daniel’s bearings are manufactured), the lady who shared the lead for the skate shop, the lady who made the intro to the lady who knew the person at the skate shop and all the people who bought Lazer t-shirts.

5. Keep It Real & Keep It Moving….by being yourself because somebody else is already taken as Leesa Barnes from Podcasting for Profits would say. Living your dream is about moving and grooving in sync with your own reality (that’s what I would say, lol). Reality is, good things happen to everyone and bad things happen to everyone. Inside of us there is light but there is also darkness. Your ultimate success comes when you can live in moderation on both sides. So don’t be too worried about what other people think about you.

Remember when you were a kid and adults often said if people can’t accept you for who you TRULY are then you don’t need to be friends anyway? …Well it’s no different today (in life or in business). We are human and we all say things that we sometimes regret. No worries.  Don’t get all stressed out about ‘accommodating’ people or offending people. It inhibits you and ultimately can become a paralyzing obstactle. Daniel said the f’ word at the beginning of his video (yep, I noticed but before I had time to get on edge, he asked if it could be bleeped out. Howard made it into a funny and just kept it moving. So you need to do the same, keep it real and keep it moving—promise me, ok? Also, doing this repeatedly is how you build confidence and I would say that is a minor detail of being a successful entrepreneur and a leader. Because when you are happening so is everyone around you! 

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